Book Reviews

August Book(s) of the Month

by Katelynn Kellogg

This month was not nearly as progressive as last month in terms of hours spent reading. None-the-less, here are my August Book(s) of the month!

Book #1 – Let’s Pretend This Never Happened – Jenny Lawson

Book cover for Jenny Lawson's "lLet's Pretend This Never Happened" picturing a mouse with a kings robe standing up with a gold gauntlet.

If you follow me on Goodreads, or have read any of my book reviews in the past, you know I am a huge fan of Jenny Lawson. I have read all her books and I recommend them to anyone who asks for book recommendations ANY TIME.

That being said, this book was written in true Jenny Lawson fashion. It was a glimpse into her childhood as she remembers it. The stories she tells about how she grew up give you quite an understanding about her train of thought, values, and pet peeves that she often talks about in her books.

In this book Lawson covers her move back to a small town in Texas, her incredibly awkward teenage years and more on her relationship with her husband (who must be the most patient man on the planet).

I really enjoy Lawson’s writing style, which is sort of like reading a bunch of run-on sentences and long, rabbit hole stories that eventually circle back to whatever it was she was thinking to begin with. As a reader, this could be incredibly irritating IF Jenny Lawson wasn’t so funny! Her writing style is a bit of ADHD meets anxiety and as a reader, it’s incredibly entertaining.

I have read a lot of memoirs and no one’s story is comparable to Jenny Lawson’s. This was actually her first book, published in 2012, which I did not know until writing this review. I actually, without knowing, read all her books in reverse and it really does not matter what order you read them in. You’ll connect. You’ll laugh. You’ll cringe at the awkwardness. You’ll want to hug her husband (and probably her dog).

Another Jenny Lawson book that did not disappoint!

Book #2 – Beautiful World, Where Are You – Sally Rooney

Book cover for Sally Rooney's 'Beautiful World, Where Are You' featuring an almost all blue background with a few cartoon people.

I really tried to like this book, but I just couldn’t get into it. I read almost 200 pages before I gave up, but it never got better.

The characters don’t really have much personality at all. The conversations and interactions are so awkward to read (including incredibly uncomfortable sex scenes), that I felt I was spying on something I shouldn’t be seeing and I felt really bad doing it.

I downloaded the audio book around page 100 to see if maybe the characters were just not developing in my mind and that the author’s voice would alter my opinion, but it did not help at all. The interactions were just as awkward, forced, and uncomfortable to listen to as they were to read.

If I wasn’t hooked in the first 200 pages, it wasn’t worth my time to continue and give the rest of the book the benefit of the doubt.

This one was a big NO from me. Apparently though, I may hold an unpopular opinion because Sally Roooney was a winner for “best fiction book of 2021” and has received 3.55/5 stars by almost 350,000 other readers on Goodreads.

Hopefully I’ll have better luck next month when I write about the September book(s) of the month!

*You can check out my Book Reviews page to see what else I’ve been reading this year if you missed any of my previous posts*